Quick links
There is a growing body of evidence that supports the case for opposing fracking and unconventional oil and gas exploration/extraction. Evidence that is usually omitted from the narrow political and media debate. The list below contains a mix of peer reviewed papers and reports.
There is a list of links to news articles on the Mounting Evidence page.
Blowouts, Spills & Explosions
- Brine Spills Associated with Unconventional Oil Development in North Dakota
April 2016
We observed thatinorganic contamination associated with brine spills in North Dakota is remarkably persistent, with elevated levels ofcontaminants observed in spills sites up to 4 years following the spill events.
Secrecy & Legal Issues
- Management of Wastes from the Exploration, Development and Production of Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Geothermal Energy (Volume 1 of 3)
December 1987
Report to Congress concludes that “fracking” of a natural gas well in West Virginia contaminated an underground drinking water source, their investigations had been hampered by confidentiality agreements between industry & affected landowners.
US EPA - Methane Emissions from United States Natural Gas Gathering and Processing
August 2015
The discrepancy between the documented emissions rates for gathering facilities and the self-reported rate is striking: The industry reported that 500 metric tons were lost at gathering facilities. This study estimates that 1,875,000 were lost.
Anthony J. Marchese*†, Timothy L. Vaughn†, Daniel J. Zimmerle‡, David M. Martinez†, Laurie L. Williams§, Allen L. Robinson∥, Austin L. Mitchell∥, R. Subramanian∥, Daniel S. Tkacik∥, Joseph R. Roscioli⊥, and Scott C. Herndon⊥ - † Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, ‡ The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, § Fort Lewis College, ∥ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, ⊥ Aerodyne Research Inc. - Fracking’s Most Wanted: Lifting the Veil on Oil and Gas Company Spills and Violations
April 2015
We found that information about the frequency and nature of oil and gas company violations is only publically accessible in three states. In states where data is available, we found significant violations both in number and severity.
FracTracker Alliance - Toxic Stew
March 2015
Because California is the only state to require comprehensive chemical testing of drilling wastes and public disclosure of the results, the findings also provide a unique window into what chemicals likely contaminate fracking wastewater nationwide.
Tasha Stoiber, EWG Senior Scientist and Bill Walker, EWG Consultant - Data inconsistencies from states with unconventional oil and gas activity
March 2015
The significant variability of unconventional Oil & Gas data (and its availability to the public) is a barrier to regulatory and industry transparency.
Samantha Maloneab, Matthew Kelso, Ted Aucha, Karen Edelstein, Kyle Ferrara & Kirk Jalberta. - Doctor Battles Gag Rule in Fracking Statute
February 2015
Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez is challenging Act 13, the state’s fracking law, which prohibits the disclosure of the chemicals and fluids used by natural gas-drilling companies in hydraulic fracking.
- Licence To Dump – New York Permits Pennsylvania to Dump Radioative Fracking Waste Inside It's Borders
January 2015
New York has inadequate regulations in place to protect New Yorkers from the harmful effects of hazardous fracking waste coming from other states.
Environmental Advocates Of New York - Analysis of Litigation Involving Shale & Hydraulic Fracturing
June 2014
Litigation around hydraulic fracturing and shale drilling has rapidly increased since 2009. The rise in such litigation may be attributed, at least in part to increased drilling in proximity to populated areas and heightened media scrutiny of the process.
Barclay R. Nicholson, Partner - Fulbright & Jaworski LLP - Leaked E-Mails and Reports Reveal Industry Privately Skeptical of Shale Gas
February 2014
A selection of industry e-mails, internal agency documents and reports by analysts, many of whom were not authorized by their employers to communicate with The New York Times.
New York Times, Drilling Down. - Drilling Doublespeak – Gas drillers disclose risks to shareholders but not to landowners
December 2011
As natural gas development has pushed into populated areas, gas drillers have consistently disclosed to shareholders and potential investors daunting lists of possible mishaps, including leaks, spills, explosions, bodily injury, limited insurance coverage
Dusty Horwitt, Environmental Working Group - Our Drinking Water at Risk
April 2005
What the EPA and the Oil and Gas Industry Don't Want Us to Know About Hydraulic Fracturing. More criticism of the 2004 EPA study.
Lisa Sumi, Earthworks - Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs
June 2004
An internal whistleblower sharply criticized this report for its lack of scientific basis and for relying on a review panel stacked with current or former industry employees. In this report the EPA also failed to mention its own findings in 1987.
US EPA
Methane Migration
- Measurements of Soil Gas Migration Around Oil And Gas Wells In the Lloydminster Area
July 1996
Methane gas is leaking at many oil and gas wells in the Lloydminster area. Attempts to stop this leakage have been mostly unsuccessful, and environmental and safety concerns have been unresolved.
B. Erno, Novacor Research; R. Schmitz, Husky Oil Operations Ltd. Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology. - Increased stray gas abundance in a subset of drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction
April 2015
Methane was detected in 82% of drinking water samples, with average concentrations six times higher for homes <1 km from natural gas wells. Ethane was 23 times higher in homes <1 km from gas wells; propane was detected in 10 water wells, all within
Robert B. Jackson a,b,1, Avner Vengosh a, Thomas H. Darrah a, Nathaniel R. Warner a, Adrian Down a,b, Robert J. Poreda c, Stephen G. Osborn d, Kaiguang Zhao a,b and Jonathan D. Karr a,b a Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment b Center on Global Change, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708; c Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 d Geological Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768 - Brief review of threats to Canada’s groundwater from the oil and gas industry’s methane migration and hydraulic fracturing
January 2013
Comprehensive summary of science, facts & documents relating to groundwater contamination & methane migration from coal bed methane and hydraulic fracturing in the US and Canada 1985 - 2013.
Jessica Ernst - EPA DRAFT – Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming
December 2011
This report indicates that constituents associated with hydraulic fracturing have been released into the Wind River drinking water aquifer. Enhanced migration of gas has occurred to ground water at depths used for domestic water supply and wells.
Dominic C. DiGiulio, Richard T. Wilkin, Carlyle Miller, Gregory Oberley, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report is held in DRAFT. The EPA DOES NOT plan to finalize or seek peer review of this draft. - Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing
April 2011
Shows very large increase of Methane up to 1km from active wells with concentrations high enough to be an explosive hazard. Heightened methane levels also found up to 4.5km from inactive wells.
Stephen G. Osborn, Avner Vengosh, Nathaniel R. Warner and Robert B. Jackson, Duke University - EPA Internal Document – Stray Natural Gas Migration Associated with Oil and Gas Wells
September 2010
Outlines over 60 instances of water contamination & fugitive methane migration from gas drilling operations caused by the failure to contain well pressure, faulty production casing or accidental drilling into other abandoned or producing gas wells.
US Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY
Air Pollution
- When The Wind Blows – Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Gas Fields and Impacted Communities
June 2016
“If you have contaminated air, you have no choice but to breathe it”. The first study of its kind linking chemicals released from gas and oil production sites to those in the bodies of residents living near the wells.
Elizabeth Crowe, Sharyle Patton, Deborah Thomas, Beverley Thorpe - http://comingcleaninc.org/ - Toward an Understanding of the Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Development: A Categorical Assessment of the Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature, 2009-2015
April 2016
84% of the literature on health revealed public health hazards, elevated risks or health impacts. 69% of the literature indicated positive associations or actual evidence of water contamination. 87% found elevated and concentrated air pollutants.
Jake Hays, Seth B. C. Shonkoff - PSE Healthy Energy - Fracking By The Numbers – The Damage to Our Water, Land and Climate from a Decade of Dirty Drilling
April 2016
details the sheer amount of water contamination, air pollution, climate impacts, and chemical use in fracking in the United States.
Elizabeth Ridlington and Kim Norman Frontier Group Rachel Richardson Environment America Research & Policy Center - Investigating the traffic-related environmental impacts of Fracking operations
March 2016
Fracking will increase air pollution levels by 30%, cause permanent damage to rural roadways and cause nearby residents distress in the form of excessive noise pollution.
Paul S. Goodman, Fabio Galatioto, Neil Thorpe, Anil K. Namdeo, Richard J. Davies, Roger N. Bird - School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RU, UK - Constructing a Spatially Resolved Methane Emission Inventory for the Barnett Shale Region
July 2015
Our estimate of O&G emissions in the Barnett Shale region was higher than United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inventories by 150% to 430%. Gathering compressor stations accounted for 40% of O&G emissions.
David R. Lyon*†‡, Daniel Zavala-Araiza†, Ramón A. Alvarez†, Robert Harriss†, Virginia Palacios†, Xin Lan§, Robert Talbot§, Tegan Lavoie∥, Paul Shepson∥, Tara I. Yacovitch⊥, Scott C. Herndon⊥, Anthony J. Marchese#, Daniel Zimmerle#, Allen L. Robinson∇, and Steven P. Hamburg† - † Environmental Defense Fund, ‡ Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, § Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, ∥ Department of Chemistry, Purdue University,⊥ Aerodyne Research, Inc., # Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, ∇ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University - How Could CSG Air Pollution in the Darling Downs Be an “Acceptable” Risk to Health?
May 2015
National Pollutant Inventory figures for CSG emissions: Volatile Organic Compounds, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene, Acetaldehyde, Formaldehyde, Carbon Monoxide, Oxides of Nitrogen, Ethylene Glycol, Sulfur Dioxide & Particulate Matter.
Dr Wayne Somerville B.A.(Hons.), M.Clin.Psych., D.Psy. Clinical Psychologist - Impact of Natural Gas Extraction on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Levels in Ambient Air
March 2015
This work suggests that natural gas extraction may be contributing significantly to PAHs in air, at levels that are relevant to human health (specifically lifetime cancer risk increasing with proximity to active wells).
L. Blair Paulik †, Carey E. Donald †, Brian W. Smith †, Lane G. Tidwell †, Kevin A. Hobbie †, Laurel Kincl ‡, Erin N. Haynes §, and Kim A. Anderson *† - † Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University. ‡ College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University. § Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati. - Regional air quality impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale natural gas activity: Evidence from ambient VOC observations
March 2015
Ethane measurements increased by 30 percent between 2010 and 2013 in states with little or no fracking. The results indicate that dangerous air pollution from fracking is a regional issue.
Timothy Vinciguerra, Simon Yao, Joseph Dadzie, Alexa Chittams, Thomas Deskins, Sheryl Ehrman, Russell R. Dickerson - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, - Human exposure to unconventional natural gas development: A public health demonstration of periodic high exposure to chemical mixtures in ambient air
March 2015
Our strongest recommendation to individuals living in shale gas areas is to monitor weather conditions to understand when the air is likely to be particularly polluted. Findings show that peak PM2.5 and VOC exposures occurred 83 times over 14 months.
David R. Browna, Celia Lewis & Beth I. Weinberger. - Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: A community-based exploratory study
October 2014
Five-state study - Levels of eight volatile chemicals exceeded federal guidelines under several operational circumstances. Benzene, formaldehyde, and hydrogen sulfide were the most common compounds to exceed acute and other health-based risk levels.
Gregg P Macey1, Ruth Breech2, Mark Chernaik3, Caroline Cox4, Denny Larson2, Deb Thomas5 and David O Carpenter6 - 1 Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York, USA - 2 Global Community Monitor, Richmond, California, USA - 3 Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, Eugene, Oregon, USA - 4 Center for Environmental Health, Oakland, California, USA - 5 Powder River Basin Resource Council, Clark, Wyoming, USA - 6 Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, Rensselaer, New York, USA - Environmental Public Health Dimensions of Shale and Tight Gas Development
August 2014
A number of studies suggest that shale gas development contributes to levels of ambient air concentrations known to be associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality.
Seth B. Shonkoff, Jake Hays and Madelon L. Finkel - Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, Oakland, California - Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California - Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, New York - Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York - New Evidence Links Air Pollution to Autism, Schizophrenia
June 2014
“Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that air pollution may play a role in autism and schitzophrenia,”
Deborah Cory-Slechta - Professor of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester - Source Signature of Volatile Organic Compounds from Oil and Natural Gas Operations in Northeastern Colorado
January 2014
“Oil and natural gas operations are the dominant wintertime source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that act as precursors for ozone pollution, average level of propane were higher than the range of values reported for 28 U.S. cities”
J. B. Gilman, B. M. Lerner, W. C. Kuster and J. A. de Gouw, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado - Fracking by the Numbers – Key Impacts of Dirty Drilling at the State and National Level
October 2013
“The numbers don’t lie—fracking has taken a dirty and destructive toll on our environment,” said John Rumpler, senior attorney for Environment America. “If this dirty drilling continues unchecked, these numbers will only get worse.”
Elizabeth Ridlington, Frontier Group, John Rumpler, Environment America Research & Policy Center - Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford
September 2013
New study documents hazardous chemicals in the air and serious ailments reported by families living in close proximity to drilling operations of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
Sharon Wilson, Earthworks; Wilma Subra, Subra Company; and Lisa Sumi, environmental research and science consultant. Edited by Alan Septoff, Earthworks. Air emissions monitoring by ShaleTest. - Methane Emissions Estimate From Airborne Measurements Over A Western United States Natural Gas Field
August 2013
average leak rate corresponded to between 6.2 percent and 11.7 percent of the average hourly natural gas production in Uintah County for the month of February. This leak rate is nearly twice the rate estimated through bottom-up methods.
Karion, Anna - Sweeney, Colm - Pétron, Gabrielle - Frost, Gregory - Michael Hardesty, R - Kofler, Jonathan - Miller, Ben R - Newberger, Tim - Wolter, Sonja - Banta, Robert - Brewer, Alan - Dlugokencky, Ed - Lang, Patricia - Montzka, Stephen A. - Schnell, Russell - Tans, Pieter - Trainer, Michael - Zamora, Robert - Conley, Stephen - NOAA & University of California - Enrichment of Radon and Carbon Dioxide in the Open Atmosphere of an Australian Coal Seam Gas Field
February 2013
Research has found a significant link between concentrations of radon gas in coal seam gas (CSG) fields and the number of CSG wells nearby.
Douglas R. Tait, Isaac R. Santos, Damien T. Maher, Tyler J. Cyronak, and Rachael J. Davis - Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia. - Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources.
May 2012
Residents living ≤½ mile from wells are at greater risk for health effects from NGD than are residents living >½ mile from wells. Subchronic exposures to air pollutants during well completion activities present the greatest potential for health effects
Lisa M. McKenzie, Roxana Z. Witter, Lee S. Newman, John L. Adgate - This study was supported by the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners and the Colorado School of Public Health. - Shale gas: an updated assessment of environmental and climate change impacts
November 2011
This report explores the environmental risks and climate change implications arising from shale gas extraction. It also outlines potential UK and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the exploitation of shale reserves.
A report by researchers at the Tyndall Centre University of Manchester - US House of Representatives Report: Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing
April 2011
14 leading US fracking companies used over 2,500 products. More than 650 contain chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act or listed as hazardous air pollutants.
- EPA Internal Document – Stray Natural Gas Migration Associated with Oil and Gas Wells
September 2010
Outlines over 60 instances of water contamination & fugitive methane migration from gas drilling operations caused by the failure to contain well pressure, faulty production casing or accidental drilling into other abandoned or producing gas wells.
US Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY - Theoretical and Observational Assessments of Flare Efficiencies
December 2001
Canadian researchers have measured more than 60 air pollutants downwind of natural gas flares including benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, acetaldehyde, acrolein, propylene, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene and hexane.
Douglas M. Leahey and Katherine Preston - Jacques Whitford Environment Limited & Mel Strosher - Alberta Research Council, Canada
Dangerous Work
- Federal researchers ID at least 9 VOC inhalation deaths at oil sites
April 2015
All crude oil has compounds called volatile hydrocarbons such as benzene, butane and propane. Shale crude has more of these compounds. The vapors can disorient people to the point that they're unable to escape the lethal effect of the vapors.
Mike Soraghan, E&E reporter - Energy Wire - Preliminary Field Studies on Worker Exposures to Volatile Chemicals during Oil and Gas Extraction Flowback and Production Testing Operations
August 2014
Findings suggest that benzene exposure can exceed the NIOSH REL and STEL and present an occupational exposure risk for unconventional oil and gas workers.
Eric J. Esswein, John Snawder, Bradley King, Michael Breitenstein, and Marissa Alexander-Scott. - Reports of Worker Fatalities during Flowback Operations
May 2014
This blog briefly describes flowback operations and addresses reports made known to NIOSH of recent worker fatalities related to or located at flowback operations.
John Snawder, Michael Breitenstein, and Marissa Alexander-Scott are with the NIOSH Division of Applied Research and Technology (DART) in Cincinnati, OH. Eric Esswein, Bradley King, Kyla Retzer and Max Kiefer are with the NIOSH Western States Office in Denver, CO. Ryan Hill is with NIOSH, Office of the Director, Morgantown, West Virginia - Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development
February 2014
Community impacts near fracking sites: air pollutants, ground and surface water contamination, truck traffic and noise pollution, accidents and malfunctions . For workers: mortality, exposure to hazardous materials & increased risk of accident.
John L. Adgate, Bernard D. Goldstein, Lisa M. McKenzie - Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. - Flames engulfed a large complex at a Magnablend Inc. facility in Waxahachie, Texas
October 2013
The fast-moving blaze overwhelmed a sprinkler system and consumed a fire truck. Much of Magnablend's business revolves around energy production, including chemicals used to stimulate oil and gas wells and hydraulic fracturing.
- Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica During Hydraulic Fracturing
May 2013
Researchers evaluated worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Full-shift samples exceeded occupational health criteria, in some cases, by 10 or more times the occupational health criteria.
Eric J. Esswein a, Michael Breitenstein b, John Snawder b, Max Kiefer a & W. Karl Sieber c - a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Western States Office , Denver , Colorado - b National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Applied Research and Technology , Cincinnati , Ohio - c National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies , Cincinnati , Ohio - Hazard Alert – Worker Exposure to Silica during Hydraulic Fracturing
June 2012
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified exposure to airborne silica as a health hazard to workers conducting some hydraulic fracturing operations during recent field studies.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) - Drilling Doublespeak – Gas drillers disclose risks to shareholders but not to landowners
December 2011
As natural gas development has pushed into populated areas, gas drillers have consistently disclosed to shareholders and potential investors daunting lists of possible mishaps, including leaks, spills, explosions, bodily injury, limited insurance coverage
Dusty Horwitt, Environmental Working Group - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY
Pipelines
- Pennsylvania Pipelines and Pollution Events
March 2019
Pennsylvania Pipelines and Pollution Events
Moving hydrocarbons from the well to processing facilities to power plants and residential customers all occurs within this giant midstream system and the cumulative impact that pipelines have is formidable. - The Trans-Atlantic Plastics Pipeline How Pennsylvania’s Fracking Boom Crosses the Atlantic
April 2017
fracking erodesthe quality of life for the rural communities where most new gas wells are drilled,114and the last thing that Pennsylvanians need is an export-driven justification for the oil and gas industry to capitalize on shale at the expense of their health and well-being.
Leaking Wells
- Measurements of Soil Gas Migration Around Oil And Gas Wells In the Lloydminster Area
July 1996
Methane gas is leaking at many oil and gas wells in the Lloydminster area. Attempts to stop this leakage have been mostly unsuccessful, and environmental and safety concerns have been unresolved.
B. Erno, Novacor Research; R. Schmitz, Husky Oil Operations Ltd. Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology. - Increased stray gas abundance in a subset of drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction
April 2015
Methane was detected in 82% of drinking water samples, with average concentrations six times higher for homes <1 km from natural gas wells. Ethane was 23 times higher in homes <1 km from gas wells; propane was detected in 10 water wells, all within
Robert B. Jackson a,b,1, Avner Vengosh a, Thomas H. Darrah a, Nathaniel R. Warner a, Adrian Down a,b, Robert J. Poreda c, Stephen G. Osborn d, Kaiguang Zhao a,b and Jonathan D. Karr a,b a Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment b Center on Global Change, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708; c Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 d Geological Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768 - Fracking Failures – Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S.
February 2015
Fracking operators in Pennsylvania have committed thousands of violations of oil and gas regulations since 2011. These violations are not “paperwork” vio- lations, but lapses that pose serious risks to workers, the environment and public health.
- Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania
November 2014
First methane measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells finds substanial emission. 3 million abandoned wells exist across the US, methane emission measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania represent 4–7% of emissions for the state.
- Noble gases identify the mechanisms of fugitive gas contamination in drinking-water wells overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales
August 2014
Researchers found eight clusters of contaminated drinking water wells, seven in Pennsylvania and one in Texas, where integrity problems at nearby fracking wells were the source of the problem.
Thomas H. Darraha, Avner Vengosha, Robert B. Jacksona, Nathaniel R. Warnera and Robert J. Poreda - Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University - Assessment and risk analysis of casing and cement impairment in oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, 2000–2012
December 2013
Unconventional gas wells in northeastern (NE) Pennsylvania are at a 2.7-fold higher risk of leaking relative to the conventional wells in the same area.
Anthony R. Ingraffea, Martin T. Wells, Renee L. Santoro, and Seth B. C. Shonkoff, Edited by William H. Schlesinger, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies - An Evaluation of Water Quality in Private Drinking Water Wells Near Natural Gas Extraction Sites in the Barnett Shale Formation
July 2013
Samples from 100 private drinking water wells revealed that arsenic, selenium, strontium and total dissolved solids exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water Maximum Contaminant Limit in some samples from private water wells.
Brian E. Fontenot, Laura R. Hunt, Zacariah L. Hildenbrand, Doug D. Carlton Jr., Hyppolite Oka, Jayme L. Walton, Dan Hopkins, Alexandra Osorio, Bryan Bjorndal, Qinhong H. Hu, and Kevin A. Schug, University of Texas at Arlington - Brief review of threats to Canada’s groundwater from the oil and gas industry’s methane migration and hydraulic fracturing
January 2013
Comprehensive summary of science, facts & documents relating to groundwater contamination & methane migration from coal bed methane and hydraulic fracturing in the US and Canada 1985 - 2013.
Jessica Ernst - How Gas Wells Leak
September 2011
Horizontal wells 4 times more likely to leak than vertical wells. All wells will eventually leak, creating a pathway for methane and other pollutants to enter the groundwater. Additional casing does not solve this chronic problem.
James Northrup - Cracks in the Facade
August 2011
25 Years Ago (1987), EPA Linked “Fracking” to Water Contamination. Fractures can extend for 2500 ft and frequently to 1000ft, and can spread to neighbouring wells.
Dusty Horwitt, Senior Counsel, Environmental Working Group - Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing
April 2011
Shows very large increase of Methane up to 1km from active wells with concentrations high enough to be an explosive hazard. Heightened methane levels also found up to 4.5km from inactive wells.
Stephen G. Osborn, Avner Vengosh, Nathaniel R. Warner and Robert B. Jackson, Duke University - EPA Internal Document – Stray Natural Gas Migration Associated with Oil and Gas Wells
September 2010
Outlines over 60 instances of water contamination & fugitive methane migration from gas drilling operations caused by the failure to contain well pressure, faulty production casing or accidental drilling into other abandoned or producing gas wells.
US Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. - Schlumberger Oilfield Review – From Mud to Cement
November 2003
By the time a well is 15 years old, there is a 50% probability that it will have measurable sustained casing pressure (SCP) in one or more of its casing annuli. However, SCP may be present in in wells of any age.
Claudio Brufatto, Jamie Cochran, Lee Conn, David Power, Said Zaki Abd Alla El-Zeghaty, Bernard Fraboulet, Tom Griffin, Simon James, Trevor Munk, Frederico Justus, Joseph R. Levine, Carl Montgomery, Dominic Murphy, Jochen Pfeiffer, Tiraputra Pornpoch, Lara Rishman, Schlumberger.
Orphaned Wells
- Public cost of decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure
March 2019
The Department has a worrying lack of understanding of the potential for government liabilities to decommission assets used in fracking.
Climate Chaos
- Fracking By The Numbers – The Damage to Our Water, Land and Climate from a Decade of Dirty Drilling
April 2016
details the sheer amount of water contamination, air pollution, climate impacts, and chemical use in fracking in the United States.
Elizabeth Ridlington and Kim Norman Frontier Group Rachel Richardson Environment America Research & Policy Center - Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania
November 2014
First methane measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells finds substanial emission. 3 million abandoned wells exist across the US, methane emission measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania represent 4–7% of emissions for the state.
- A bridge to nowhere: Methane emissions and the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas
March 2014
There is no evidence to prove that natural gas is a 'low carbon' fuel, the conclusion stands that both shale gas and conventional natural gas have a larger Greenhouse Gas Footprint (GHG) than coal and oil.
Robert W. Howarth - Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 - Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems
February 2014
High methane leakage rates from Natural Gas production (from conventional and unconventional sources), challenged the benefits of switching from Coal to Natural Gas
A. R. Brandt, G. A. Heath, E. A. Kort, F. O'Sullivan, G. Pétron, S. M. Jordaan, P. Tans, J. Wilcox, A. M. Gopstein, D. Arent, S. Wofsy, N. J. Brown, R. Bradley, G. D. Stucky, D. Eardley, R. Harriss - Stanford University, Stanford, CA. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO. - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO. - University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. - University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. - U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC. - Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO. - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. - Independent consultant, Gaithersburg, MD. - University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA. - Environmental Defense Fund, Boulder, CO. - Methane Emissions Estimate From Airborne Measurements Over A Western United States Natural Gas Field
August 2013
average leak rate corresponded to between 6.2 percent and 11.7 percent of the average hourly natural gas production in Uintah County for the month of February. This leak rate is nearly twice the rate estimated through bottom-up methods.
Karion, Anna - Sweeney, Colm - Pétron, Gabrielle - Frost, Gregory - Michael Hardesty, R - Kofler, Jonathan - Miller, Ben R - Newberger, Tim - Wolter, Sonja - Banta, Robert - Brewer, Alan - Dlugokencky, Ed - Lang, Patricia - Montzka, Stephen A. - Schnell, Russell - Tans, Pieter - Trainer, Michael - Zamora, Robert - Conley, Stephen - NOAA & University of California - Shale gas: an updated assessment of environmental and climate change impacts
November 2011
This report explores the environmental risks and climate change implications arising from shale gas extraction. It also outlines potential UK and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the exploitation of shale reserves.
A report by researchers at the Tyndall Centre University of Manchester - Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations
November 2010
Shows that shale gas has from 20% to 100% greater contribution to GHG than coal over a 20 year period, and similar effectover 100 year period. Methane leakage during production is 30% to 100% more than conventional gas.
A Letter by Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell University.
Oppression & Intimidation
- Shale Gas Development and Community Distress: Evidence from England
June 2020
We conclude that the experiences, of the three English communities, reported in the qualitative interviews and quantitative survey are consistent with the reports of stress in the United States for those residents who live in shale gas communities.
- Fracking Lancashire: The planning process, social harm and collective trauma
March 2017
“This situation will have significant and long-lasting impacts on the local community, contributing to the collective trauma already experienced by the residents living in the vicinity of potential fracking sites in Lancashire.”
Damien Short - School of Advanced Study, University of London, United Kingdom Anna Szolucha - Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway - Keep Moving – Report on the policing of the Barton Moss community protection camp
February 2016
Policing of the protest had the effect of curtailing the right to protest. Policing was violent, disproportionate to the size and peaceful nature of the protest and was carried out with impunity. Only 29% of arrests resulted in a conviction.
Dr Joanna Gilmore (York Law School, University of York), Dr Will Jackson (School of Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University) and Dr Helen Monk (School of Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University) - A Human Rights Assesment of Fracking and Other Unconventional Gas Development in the UK
October 2014
This Report argues that the UK Government has a clear and urgent duty to fully investigate the human rights implications of fracking before authorising any exploratory or extractive fracking opertions.
Anna Grear, Director of the GNHRE, Reader in Law, Cardiff Law School, UK and Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, University of Waikato, New Zealand Evadne Grant, Associate Head, Department of Law, University of the West of England, Editor, Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, GNHRE Coordinator Dr Tom Kerns, Director of Environment and Human Rights Advisory, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Seattle Community College Professor Karen Morrow, Professor of Environmental Law, Swansea University, core team member GNHRE. Dr Damien Short, Reader in Human Rights and Director of the Human Rights Consortium and Extreme Energy Initiative at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Academic and Legal Research Assistance Benjamin Pontin, Senior Lecturer in Law, Bristol Law School, Bristol UWE, UK
Transport
- Investigating the traffic-related environmental impacts of Fracking operations
March 2016
Fracking will increase air pollution levels by 30%, cause permanent damage to rural roadways and cause nearby residents distress in the form of excessive noise pollution.
Paul S. Goodman, Fabio Galatioto, Neil Thorpe, Anil K. Namdeo, Richard J. Davies, Roger N. Bird - School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RU, UK - Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources – Separating the Frack from the Fiction
June 2012
Hydraulic fracturing in a horizontal well would require 3,950 truck trips per well during early development of the well field, two to three times greater than is required for conventional vertical wells.
Heather Cooley, Kristina Donnelly, Pacific Institute. Also covers: Water resource challenges, water withdrawals, groundwater contamination associated with well drilling and production, wastewater management, surface spills and leaks, stormwater management. - Fracking contribution to truck traffic
January 2011
Trucking stats suggest that transportation related to fracking could account for 4.5% of US truck loads and 26% of tank loads
www.truckgauge.com
Water Contamination
- Management of Wastes from the Exploration, Development and Production of Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Geothermal Energy (Volume 1 of 3)
December 1987
Report to Congress concludes that “fracking” of a natural gas well in West Virginia contaminated an underground drinking water source, their investigations had been hampered by confidentiality agreements between industry & affected landowners.
US EPA - Evaluating System for Ground-Water Contamination Hazards Due to Gas-Well Drilling on the Glaciated Appalachian Plateau
May 1984
Recent drilling for natural gas in the Glaciated Appalachian Plateau area of northwestern Pennsylvania has caused limited, but increasing ground-water contamination.
Samuel S. Harrison is a Professor of Geology and Chairperson of the Environmental Science Department at Allegheny College. - Fracked Ecology: Response Of Aquatic Trophic Structure And Mercury Biomagnification Dynamics In The Marcellus Shale Formation
October 2016
Twenty-seven remotely-located streams in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale basin were sampled during June and July of 2012, results suggest fracking has the potential to alter aquatic biodiversity and methyl mercury concentrations at the base of food webs
Christopher James Grant 1 Allison K. Lutz 2 Aaron D. Kulig 1 Mitchell R. Stanton 3 - 1 Juniata Collegevon Liebig Center for Science 2.Biology Department Georgia Southern University 3.Utah Division of Wildlife Resources - Wastewater Disposal from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Degrades Stream Quality at a West Virginia Injection Facility
May 2016
“We found endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at levels that previous studies have shown are high enough to block some hormone receptors and potentially lead to adverse health effects in aquatic organisms,” Susan C. Nagel
Denise M. Akob*†, Adam C. Mumford†, William Orem‡, Mark A. Engle‡ J. Grace Klinges, †∥, Douglas B. Kent§ and Isabelle M. Cozzarelli † † U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program ‡ U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center § U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program - Toward an Understanding of the Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Development: A Categorical Assessment of the Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature, 2009-2015
April 2016
84% of the literature on health revealed public health hazards, elevated risks or health impacts. 69% of the literature indicated positive associations or actual evidence of water contamination. 87% found elevated and concentrated air pollutants.
Jake Hays, Seth B. C. Shonkoff - PSE Healthy Energy - Brine Spills Associated with Unconventional Oil Development in North Dakota
April 2016
We observed thatinorganic contamination associated with brine spills in North Dakota is remarkably persistent, with elevated levels ofcontaminants observed in spills sites up to 4 years following the spill events.
- Fracking By The Numbers – The Damage to Our Water, Land and Climate from a Decade of Dirty Drilling
April 2016
details the sheer amount of water contamination, air pollution, climate impacts, and chemical use in fracking in the United States.
Elizabeth Ridlington and Kim Norman Frontier Group Rachel Richardson Environment America Research & Policy Center - Impact to Underground Sources of Drinking Water and Domestic Wells from Production Well Stimulation and Completion Practices in the Pavillion, Wyoming, Field
March 2016
The research paints a picture of unsafe practices ranging from the dumping of drilling and production fluids containing diesel fuel and high chemical concentrations in unlined pits to a lack of adequate cement barriers to protect groundwater.
Dominic C. DiGiulio*† and Robert B. Jackson†‡§ - †Department of Earth System Science, ‡Woods Institute for the Environment, and §Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States - Hydraulic fracturing in thick shale basins: problems in identifying faults in the Bowland and Weald Basins, UK
December 2015
European shale basins are smaller but thicker than those in U.S. and are cut or bounded by normal faults penetrating from the shale to the surface. There is an inherent risk of groundwater resource contamination via these faults.
David K. Smythe - College of Science and Engineering, University of Glasgow, Scotland - Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water
October 2015
This study showed that fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals.
Yixin Yao a, b Tingting Chen c, Steven S. Shen d, Yingmei Niu b, Thomas L. DesMarais b, Reka Linn b, Eric Saunders b, Zhihua Fan b, Paul Lioy e, Thomas Kluz b, Lung-Chi Chen b, Zhuangchun Wu f, Max Costa b, - a Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health, b Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, d Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine, e Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, f College of Science, Donghua University. - A Comprehensive Analysis of Groundwater Quality in The Barnett Shale Region
July 2015
550 water samples over three years found elevated levels of 10 metals and 19 chemicals compounds including BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes) compounds associated with fracking. The study also found elevated levels of methanol and ethanol.
Zacariah L. Hildenbrand *†‡, Doug D. Carlton , Jr.‡§, Brian E. Fontenot ‡, Jesse M. Meik ‡∥, Jayme L. Walton ‡, Josh T. Taylor †, Jonathan B. Thacker §, Stephanie Korlie §, C. Phillip Shelor §, Drew Henderson §, Akinde F. Kadjo §, Corey E. Roelke ‡#, Paul F. Hudak ∇, Taylour Burton ¶, Hanadi S. Rifai ¶, and Kevin A. Schug *‡§ † Inform Environmental, ‡ Affiliate of the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation § Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry # Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, ∥ Department of Biological Sciences, Tarleton State University, ∇ Department of Geography, University of North Texas, ¶ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston. - Hydraulic Fracturing Study – Draft Assessment 2015
June 2015
The US EPA finally confirm the link between fracking and water contamination. It is only a matter of time until the systemic risks are confirmed. This report only considers impacts to water.
US. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC - Reductive weathering of black shale and release of barium during hydraulic fracturing
May 2015
Chemical reactions between injected freshwater and hydraulically fractured shale could play a major role in generating toxic metal barium in fracking wastewater.
Devon Renock, , Joshua D. Landis, Mukul Sharma - Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA - Evaluating a groundwater supply contamination incident attributed to Marcellus Shale gas development
April 2015
"These findings are important because we show that chemicals traveled from shale gas wells more than two kilometers in the subsurface to drinking water wells," The incident is directly attributed to Marcellus Shale gas development.
Garth T. Llewellyn a, Frank Dorman b, J. L. Westland b, D. Yoxtheimer c, Paul Grieve c, Todd Sowers c, E. Humston-Fulmer d, and Susan L. Brantley c. Author Affiliations - a Appalachia Hydrogeologic and Environmental Consulting, b Department of Biochemistry, c Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, d Leco Corporation. - Toxic Stew
March 2015
Because California is the only state to require comprehensive chemical testing of drilling wastes and public disclosure of the results, the findings also provide a unique window into what chemicals likely contaminate fracking wastewater nationwide.
Tasha Stoiber, EWG Senior Scientist and Bill Walker, EWG Consultant - Marcellus and mercury: Assessing potential impacts of unconventional natural gas extraction on aquatic ecosystems in northwestern Pennsylvania
March 2015
Results showed significantly higher dissolved mercury in stream water, lower pH and higher dissolved organic matter at fracked sites. Mercury concentrations in crayfish, macroinverte and predatory macroinvertebrates were also higher.
Christopher J. Granta, Alexander B. Weimer, Nicole K. Marks, Elliott S. Perow, Jacob M. Oster, Kristen M. Brubaker, Ryan V. Trexler, Caroline M. Solomon & Regina Lamendella. - Fracking Failures – Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S.
February 2015
Fracking operators in Pennsylvania have committed thousands of violations of oil and gas regulations since 2011. These violations are not “paperwork” vio- lations, but lapses that pose serious risks to workers, the environment and public health.
- Iodide, Bromide, and Ammonium in Hydraulic Fracturing and Oil and Gas Wastewaters: Environmental Implications
January 2015
The expansion of unconventional shale gas and hydraulic fracturing has increased the volume of Oil & Gas Wastewater (OGW) generated in the U.S. Discharge and accidental spills of OGW to waterways pose risks to both human health and the environment.
Jennifer S. Harkness †, Gary S. Dwyer †, Nathaniel R. Warner †‡, Kimberly M. Parker §, William A. Mitch §, and Avner Vengosh *† † Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States ‡ Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States § Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4020, United States - Chemical constituents and analytical approaches for hydraulic fracturing waters
January 2015
Hydraulic fracturing fluids contain a mix of organic and inorganic additives in an aqueous media. The compositions of these mixtures vary according to the region or company use, thus making the process of identifying individual compounds difficult.
Imma Ferrer, E. Michael Thurman - Department of Environmental Sustainability, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA - Characterization of hydraulic fracturing flowback water in Colorado: Implications for water treatment
December 2014
The flowback sample contained salts, metals and high concentration of dissolved organic matter. The organic matter comprised fracturing fluid additives and high levels of acetic acid, indicating the anthropogenic impact on this wastewater.
Yaal Lestera, Imma Ferrerb, E. Michael Thurmanb, Kurban A. Sitterleya, Julie A. Koraka, George Aikenc, Karl G. Lindena, - a Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado - b Center for Environmental Mass Spectrometry, University of Colorado - c US Geological Survey - Enhanced Formation of Disinfection Byproducts in Shale Gas Wastewater Impacted Drinking Water Supplies
September 2014
Treated wastewater from unconventional oil and gas operations discharged into rivers and streams that is used downstream as public drinking supplies can create carcinogenic chemicals when chlorinated.
Kimberly M. Parker†, Teng Zeng†, Jennifer Harkness‡, Avner Vengosh‡, and William A. Mitch*† † Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University - ‡ Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. - Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells
August 2014
Researchers identified 25 inorganic chemicals in frack waste water, at least six were found at levels that would make the water unsafe to drink: barium, chromium, copper, mercury, arsenic and antimony.
Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron - Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, USA - Noble gases identify the mechanisms of fugitive gas contamination in drinking-water wells overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales
August 2014
Researchers found eight clusters of contaminated drinking water wells, seven in Pennsylvania and one in Texas, where integrity problems at nearby fracking wells were the source of the problem.
Thomas H. Darraha, Avner Vengosha, Robert B. Jacksona, Nathaniel R. Warnera and Robert J. Poreda - Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University - Effect of Hydrofracking Fluid on Colloid Transport in the Unsaturated Zone
June 2014
This study suggests that hydrofracking fluid may also indirectly contaminate groundwater by remobilizing existing colloidal pollutants.
Wenjing Sang, Cathelijne R. Stoof, Wei Zhang , Verónica L. Morales , Bin Gao, Robert W. Kay, Lin Liu, Yalei Zhang, and Tammo S. Steenhuis - Cornell University - Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Activities of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Surface and Ground Water in a Drilling-Dense Region
December 2013
The rapid rise in natural gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing increases the potential for contamination of surface and ground water from chemicals used throughout the process.
Christopher D. Kassotis, Donald E. Tillitt, J. Wade Davis, Annette M. Hormann, and Susan C. Nagel - Endocrine Society - Fracking by the Numbers – Key Impacts of Dirty Drilling at the State and National Level
October 2013
“The numbers don’t lie—fracking has taken a dirty and destructive toll on our environment,” said John Rumpler, senior attorney for Environment America. “If this dirty drilling continues unchecked, these numbers will only get worse.”
Elizabeth Ridlington, Frontier Group, John Rumpler, Environment America Research & Policy Center - An Evaluation of Water Quality in Private Drinking Water Wells Near Natural Gas Extraction Sites in the Barnett Shale Formation
July 2013
Samples from 100 private drinking water wells revealed that arsenic, selenium, strontium and total dissolved solids exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water Maximum Contaminant Limit in some samples from private water wells.
Brian E. Fontenot, Laura R. Hunt, Zacariah L. Hildenbrand, Doug D. Carlton Jr., Hyppolite Oka, Jayme L. Walton, Dan Hopkins, Alexandra Osorio, Bryan Bjorndal, Qinhong H. Hu, and Kevin A. Schug, University of Texas at Arlington - Out Of Control – Nova Scotia’s Experience with Fracking for Shale Gas
April 2013
The risks were not as evident in 2007, when Triangle began work, as they are today. In 2013, no government can move ahead with shale gas development and later say, “we didn’t know there would be problems."
Barb Harris, John Cascadden, Angela Giles, Kris MacLellan, Ken Summers, Jennifer West, Michael Whale, Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition - EPA DRAFT – Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming
December 2011
This report indicates that constituents associated with hydraulic fracturing have been released into the Wind River drinking water aquifer. Enhanced migration of gas has occurred to ground water at depths used for domestic water supply and wells.
Dominic C. DiGiulio, Richard T. Wilkin, Carlyle Miller, Gregory Oberley, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report is held in DRAFT. The EPA DOES NOT plan to finalize or seek peer review of this draft. - Shale gas: an updated assessment of environmental and climate change impacts
November 2011
This report explores the environmental risks and climate change implications arising from shale gas extraction. It also outlines potential UK and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the exploitation of shale reserves.
A report by researchers at the Tyndall Centre University of Manchester - Cracks in the Facade
August 2011
25 Years Ago (1987), EPA Linked “Fracking” to Water Contamination. Fractures can extend for 2500 ft and frequently to 1000ft, and can spread to neighbouring wells.
Dusty Horwitt, Senior Counsel, Environmental Working Group - US House of Representatives Report: Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing
April 2011
14 leading US fracking companies used over 2,500 products. More than 650 contain chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act or listed as hazardous air pollutants.
- EPA Internal Document – Stray Natural Gas Migration Associated with Oil and Gas Wells
September 2010
Outlines over 60 instances of water contamination & fugitive methane migration from gas drilling operations caused by the failure to contain well pressure, faulty production casing or accidental drilling into other abandoned or producing gas wells.
US Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY - Impact Assessment of Natural Gas Production in the New York City Water Supply Watershed
December 2009
After an 11-month study, the report concludes fracking poses “catastrophic consequences” to the city’s drinking water and should not take place within 7 miles of New York City’s watershed.
Hazen and Sawyer (Environmental Engineers & Scientists) for the New York City DEP. - Buried Secrets: Is Natural Gas Drilling Endangering U.S. Water Supplies?
November 2008
The US has more than 1,000 cases of contamination documented by courts and state and local governments in Colorado, New Mexico, Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
Myths & Lies
- Leaked E-Mails and Reports Reveal Industry Privately Skeptical of Shale Gas
February 2014
A selection of industry e-mails, internal agency documents and reports by analysts, many of whom were not authorized by their employers to communicate with The New York Times.
New York Times, Drilling Down. - Economic Realities of Shale Gas Development in New York – Submitted in support of testimony presented at February 4th Public Forum, Albany, New York 2014.
February 2014
Costs ignored by the industry are air pollution & health costs, road damage, decline in property value & the deterioration of industries crowded out or otherwise incompatible with an industrial landscape and/or risk of water, air and land contamin
- Out Of Control – Nova Scotia’s Experience with Fracking for Shale Gas
April 2013
The risks were not as evident in 2007, when Triangle began work, as they are today. In 2013, no government can move ahead with shale gas development and later say, “we didn’t know there would be problems."
Barb Harris, John Cascadden, Angela Giles, Kris MacLellan, Ken Summers, Jennifer West, Michael Whale, Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition - A Balance Sheet for New York State – What is New York State’s Net Equity from Shale Gas Development?
January 2012
A listing of potential assets and liabilities on a single side of A4.
Jannette M. Barth, Pepacton Institute - Memorandum submitted to Energy and Climate Change Select Comittee (SG 08)
February 2011
“We do not consider there to be a risk that hydrocarbons or fracing fluid leak into shallow water aquifers as a result of the fracing process. We note there is no officially documented case of fracing causing leakage of hydrocarbons or fracing fluid...”
Cuadrilla Resources Holdings Ltd. - Testimony to U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
January 2010
p97 “To our knowledge, there have been a million wells fracked, and no documented cases of contamination of groundwater from hydraulic fracturing,”
Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil CEO - Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs
June 2004
An internal whistleblower sharply criticized this report for its lack of scientific basis and for relying on a review panel stacked with current or former industry employees. In this report the EPA also failed to mention its own findings in 1987.
US EPA
Fugitive Emissions
- A large increase in U.S. methane emissions over the past decade inferred from satellite data and surface observations
February 2016
This large increase in U.S. methane emissions could account for 30–60% of the global growth of atmospheric methane seen in the past decade.
- Methane Emissions from United States Natural Gas Gathering and Processing
August 2015
The discrepancy between the documented emissions rates for gathering facilities and the self-reported rate is striking: The industry reported that 500 metric tons were lost at gathering facilities. This study estimates that 1,875,000 were lost.
Anthony J. Marchese*†, Timothy L. Vaughn†, Daniel J. Zimmerle‡, David M. Martinez†, Laurie L. Williams§, Allen L. Robinson∥, Austin L. Mitchell∥, R. Subramanian∥, Daniel S. Tkacik∥, Joseph R. Roscioli⊥, and Scott C. Herndon⊥ - † Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, ‡ The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, § Fort Lewis College, ∥ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, ⊥ Aerodyne Research Inc. - Using Multi-Scale Measurements to Improve Methane Emission Estimates from Oil and Gas Operations in the Barnett Shale Region, Texas
July 2015
Methane emissions from the Barnett Shale region of Texas are 50 percent higher than estimates based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas inventory.
Robert Harriss *, Ramón A. Alvarez , David Lyon , Daniel Zavala-Araiza , Drew Nelson , and Steven P. Hamburg - Environmental Defense Fund, Austin, Texas. - Constructing a Spatially Resolved Methane Emission Inventory for the Barnett Shale Region
July 2015
Our estimate of O&G emissions in the Barnett Shale region was higher than United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inventories by 150% to 430%. Gathering compressor stations accounted for 40% of O&G emissions.
David R. Lyon*†‡, Daniel Zavala-Araiza†, Ramón A. Alvarez†, Robert Harriss†, Virginia Palacios†, Xin Lan§, Robert Talbot§, Tegan Lavoie∥, Paul Shepson∥, Tara I. Yacovitch⊥, Scott C. Herndon⊥, Anthony J. Marchese#, Daniel Zimmerle#, Allen L. Robinson∇, and Steven P. Hamburg† - † Environmental Defense Fund, ‡ Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, § Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, ∥ Department of Chemistry, Purdue University,⊥ Aerodyne Research, Inc., # Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, ∇ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University - Atmospheric Emission Characterization of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Development Sites
April 2015
This study of three Marcellus Shale drilling sites found methane emmissions 4 to 23 times higher than previous estimates. Compressor stations and transient sites (e.g. during drilling and completion) were observed to be the largest emitters of Methane.
J. Douglas Goetz †, Cody Floerchinger ‡, Edward C. Fortner ‡, Joda Wormhoudt ‡, Paola Massoli ‡, W. Berk Knighton §, Scott C. Herndon ‡, Charles E. Kolb ‡, Eladio Knipping ∥, Stephanie L. Shaw ∥, and Peter F. DeCarlo *†⊥ † Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University. ‡ Aerodyne Research, Inc. § Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University. ∥ Electric Power Research Institute. ⊥ Department of Chemistry, Drexel University. - Mapping Methane and Carbon Dioxide Concentrations and Isotopic Signature Values in the Atmosphere of Two Australian Coal Seam Gas Fields
November 2014
Results showed a widespread enrichment of both methane (up to 6.89 ppm) and carbon dioxide (up to 541 ppm) within the production gas field... indicating a methane source within the production field that has a signature comparable to the regional CSG..
Damien T. Maher, Isaac R. Santos, Douglas R. Tait - Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia - Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania
November 2014
First methane measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells finds substanial emission. 3 million abandoned wells exist across the US, methane emission measurements from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania represent 4–7% of emissions for the state.
- A bridge to nowhere: Methane emissions and the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas
March 2014
There is no evidence to prove that natural gas is a 'low carbon' fuel, the conclusion stands that both shale gas and conventional natural gas have a larger Greenhouse Gas Footprint (GHG) than coal and oil.
Robert W. Howarth - Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 - Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems
February 2014
High methane leakage rates from Natural Gas production (from conventional and unconventional sources), challenged the benefits of switching from Coal to Natural Gas
A. R. Brandt, G. A. Heath, E. A. Kort, F. O'Sullivan, G. Pétron, S. M. Jordaan, P. Tans, J. Wilcox, A. M. Gopstein, D. Arent, S. Wofsy, N. J. Brown, R. Bradley, G. D. Stucky, D. Eardley, R. Harriss - Stanford University, Stanford, CA. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO. - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO. - University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. - University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. - U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC. - Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO. - Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. - Independent consultant, Gaithersburg, MD. - University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA. - Environmental Defense Fund, Boulder, CO. - Source Signature of Volatile Organic Compounds from Oil and Natural Gas Operations in Northeastern Colorado
January 2014
“Oil and natural gas operations are the dominant wintertime source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that act as precursors for ozone pollution, average level of propane were higher than the range of values reported for 28 U.S. cities”
J. B. Gilman, B. M. Lerner, W. C. Kuster and J. A. de Gouw, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado - Toward a better understanding and quantification of methane emissions from shale gas development.
September 2013
Large emissions averaging 34 g CH4/s per well were observed from seven well pads determined to be in the drilling phase, 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater than US Environmental Protection Agency estimates for this operational phase.
Dana R. Caulton, Paul B. Shepson, Renee L. Santoro, Jed P. Sparks, Robert W. Howarth, Anthony R. Ingraffea, Maria O. L. Cambaliza, Colm Sweeney, Anna Karion, Kenneth J. Davis, Brian H. Stirm, Stephen A. Montzka, and Ben R. Miller. - Methane Emissions Estimate From Airborne Measurements Over A Western United States Natural Gas Field
August 2013
average leak rate corresponded to between 6.2 percent and 11.7 percent of the average hourly natural gas production in Uintah County for the month of February. This leak rate is nearly twice the rate estimated through bottom-up methods.
Karion, Anna - Sweeney, Colm - Pétron, Gabrielle - Frost, Gregory - Michael Hardesty, R - Kofler, Jonathan - Miller, Ben R - Newberger, Tim - Wolter, Sonja - Banta, Robert - Brewer, Alan - Dlugokencky, Ed - Lang, Patricia - Montzka, Stephen A. - Schnell, Russell - Tans, Pieter - Trainer, Michael - Zamora, Robert - Conley, Stephen - NOAA & University of California - Measurements of methane emissions at natural gas production sites in the United States
March 2013
Direct measurements of methane emissions at 190 onshore natural gas sites in the United States. Emission factors for pneumatic pumps and controllers as well as equipment leaks were both comparable to and higher than estimates in the national inventory.
Edited by Susan L. Brantley, Pennsylvania State University. - Enrichment of Radon and Carbon Dioxide in the Open Atmosphere of an Australian Coal Seam Gas Field
February 2013
Research has found a significant link between concentrations of radon gas in coal seam gas (CSG) fields and the number of CSG wells nearby.
Douglas R. Tait, Isaac R. Santos, Damien T. Maher, Tyler J. Cyronak, and Rachael J. Davis - Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia. - Fugitive Emissions from Coal Seam Gas
October 2012
Levels of the potent greenhouse gas methane have been recorded at more than three times their normal background levels at coal seam gas fields in Queensland, Australia.
Dr. Isaac Santos, Dr. Damien Maher - Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia - Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations
November 2010
Shows that shale gas has from 20% to 100% greater contribution to GHG than coal over a 20 year period, and similar effectover 100 year period. Methane leakage during production is 30% to 100% more than conventional gas.
A Letter by Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell University. - Town of DISH, Texas – Ambient Air Monitoring Analysis
September 2009
Air analysis confirmed the presence in high concentrations of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds after gas exploration companies erected compression stations and condensate tanks.
Alisa Rich, Wolf Eagle Environmental
Frack Sand
- Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica During Hydraulic Fracturing
May 2013
Researchers evaluated worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Full-shift samples exceeded occupational health criteria, in some cases, by 10 or more times the occupational health criteria.
Eric J. Esswein a, Michael Breitenstein b, John Snawder b, Max Kiefer a & W. Karl Sieber c - a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Western States Office , Denver , Colorado - b National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Applied Research and Technology , Cincinnati , Ohio - c National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies , Cincinnati , Ohio - Hazard Alert – Worker Exposure to Silica during Hydraulic Fracturing
June 2012
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified exposure to airborne silica as a health hazard to workers conducting some hydraulic fracturing operations during recent field studies.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Human Health
- Shale Gas Development and Community Distress: Evidence from England
June 2020
We conclude that the experiences, of the three English communities, reported in the qualitative interviews and quantitative survey are consistent with the reports of stress in the United States for those residents who live in shale gas communities.
- Fracking Lancashire: The planning process, social harm and collective trauma
March 2017
“This situation will have significant and long-lasting impacts on the local community, contributing to the collective trauma already experienced by the residents living in the vicinity of potential fracking sites in Lancashire.”
Damien Short - School of Advanced Study, University of London, United Kingdom Anna Szolucha - Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway - Unconventional oil and gas development and risk of childhood leukemia: Assessing the evidence
January 2017
A total of 17 water and 11 air pollutants (20 unique compounds) had evidence of increased risk for leukemia/lymphoma, including benzene, 1,3-butadiene, cadmium, diesel exhaust, and several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
- Associations between Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Nasal and Sinus, Migraine Headache, and Fatigue Symptoms in Pennsylvania
August 2016
This study provides evidence that Fracking is associated with nasal and sinus, migraine headache, and fatigue symptoms in a general population representative sample.
Aaron W. Tustin,1 Annemarie G. Hirsch,2 Sara G. Rasmussen,1 Joan A. Casey,3 Karen Bandeen-Roche,4 and Brian S. Schwartz1,2,5 Author Affiliations: 1 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2 Center for Health Research, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania; 3 Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley; 4 Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; 5 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine - When The Wind Blows – Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Gas Fields and Impacted Communities
June 2016
“If you have contaminated air, you have no choice but to breathe it”. The first study of its kind linking chemicals released from gas and oil production sites to those in the bodies of residents living near the wells.
Elizabeth Crowe, Sharyle Patton, Deborah Thomas, Beverley Thorpe - http://comingcleaninc.org/ - Toward an Understanding of the Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Development: A Categorical Assessment of the Peer-Reviewed Scientific Literature, 2009-2015
April 2016
84% of the literature on health revealed public health hazards, elevated risks or health impacts. 69% of the literature indicated positive associations or actual evidence of water contamination. 87% found elevated and concentrated air pollutants.
Jake Hays, Seth B. C. Shonkoff - PSE Healthy Energy - A systematic evaluation of chemicals in hydraulic-fracturing fluids and wastewater for reproductive and developmental toxicity
January 2016
Analysis of more than 1,000 chemicals in fluids used in and created by fracking ,157 substances have been linked to reproductive and developmental health problems and the majority had undetermined toxicity due to insufficient information.
Elise G Elliott, Adrienne S Ettinger, Brian P Leaderer, Michael B Bracken and Nicole C Deziel - Yale School of Public Health - Compendium Of Scientific, Medical And Media Findings Demonstrating Risks And Harms Of Fracking
October 2015
"There is no evidence that fracking can operate without risks to human health. Any claims of safety are based on wishful thinking.”
Concerned Health Professionals of New York - Endocrine-Disrupting Activity of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Adverse Health Outcomes
October 2015
Our results suggest possible adverse developmental and reproductive health outcomes in humans and animals exposed to potential environmentally relevant levels of oil and gas operation chemicals.
Christopher D. Kassotis, Kara C. Klemp, Danh C. Vu, Chung-Ho Lin, Chun-Xia Meng, Cynthia L. Besch-Williford, Lisa Pinatti, R. Thomas Zoeller, Erma Z. Drobnis, Victoria D. Balise, Chiamaka J. Isiguzo, Michelle A. Williams, Donald E. Tillitt, and Susan C. Nagel - Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water
October 2015
This study showed that fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals.
Yixin Yao a, b Tingting Chen c, Steven S. Shen d, Yingmei Niu b, Thomas L. DesMarais b, Reka Linn b, Eric Saunders b, Zhihua Fan b, Paul Lioy e, Thomas Kluz b, Lung-Chi Chen b, Zhuangchun Wu f, Max Costa b, - a Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health, b Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, d Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine, e Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, f College of Science, Donghua University. - Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Is Associated with Increased Hospital Utilization Rates
July 2015
People living close to wells had higher rates of cardiovascular and neurological complications, increased hospitalizations due to urologic problems, cancer and skin conditions. Increased neurologic problems were associated with high well density.
Thomas Jemielita, Jason Roy, Kathleen J. Propert - Department of Biostatistics & George L. Gerton, Marilyn Howarth, Pouné Saberi, Nicholas Fausti, Trevor M. Penning, Reynold A. Panettieri Jr. - Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET), University of Pennsylvania. Matthew Neidell - Department of Health Policy and Management & Steven Chillrud, Beizhan Yan, Martin Stute - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. - The risk of hydraulic fracturing on public health in the UK and the UK’s fracking legislation
June 2015
Government reports suggest a reliance on engineering solutions and better practice to overcome problems found in the US when evidence suggests that there are inherent risks involved in hydraulic fracturing and impacts that cannot be eliminated.
Elisabeth Reap - Environment Department, University of York - Perinatal Outcomes and Unconventional Natural Gas Operations in Southwest Pennsylvania
June 2015
Mothers most exposed to unconventional gas drilling suffered from lower birth weight and a higher incidence of babies being "small for gestational age" compared to less exposed mothers.
Shaina L. Stacy, LuAnn L. Brink, Jacob C. Larkin, Yoel Sadovsky, Bernard D. Goldstein, Bruce R. Pitt, Evelyn O. Talbott - PLOS - MEDACT Full UK Report – Health & Fracking
March 2015
While the precise level of risk to human health is indeterminate, the health hazards involved are substantial. No assurance can be given that the (UK regulatory) system is adequately robust and protective of human and ecological health.
Dr David McCoy, Dr Patrick Saunders, Dr Frank Rugman, Mike Hill, Dr Ruth Wood, Dr Adam Law, Jake Hays, Professor George Morris, John Bisset, Dr Angela Raffle, Dr John Middleton, David Kidney - MEDACT, The Grayston Centre, 28 Charles Squre, London. - British Medical Journal – Open Letter
March 2015
The arguments against fracking on public health and ecological grounds are overwhelming. There are clear grounds for adopting the precautionary principle and prohibiting fracking.
Dr Robin Stott, Co-Chair, Climate and Health Council Professor Sue Atkinson CBE, Co-Chair, Climate and Health Counci Professor Hugh Montgomery, UCL Professor Maya Rao OBE Professor Martin McKee, LSHTM Dr Clare Gerada, GP and former Chair of RGCP Dr Christopher Birt, University of Liverpool and Christie Hospital, Manchester Professor John Yudkin, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, UCL Dr Sheila Adam, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Klim McPherson, Chair of the UK Health Forum Dr John Middleton, Vice President UKFPH Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, KCL Helen Gordon, Board Member, Climate and Health Council Dr Frank Boulton, Medact and Southampton University Dr Sarah Walpole, Academic Clinical Fellow Professor Allyson Pollock, QMUL Dr Julie Hotchkiss, Acting Director of Public Health at City of a York Council Professor Jennie Popay, Lancaster University - Impact of Natural Gas Extraction on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Levels in Ambient Air
March 2015
This work suggests that natural gas extraction may be contributing significantly to PAHs in air, at levels that are relevant to human health (specifically lifetime cancer risk increasing with proximity to active wells).
L. Blair Paulik †, Carey E. Donald †, Brian W. Smith †, Lane G. Tidwell †, Kevin A. Hobbie †, Laurel Kincl ‡, Erin N. Haynes §, and Kim A. Anderson *† - † Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University. ‡ College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University. § Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati. - Human exposure to unconventional natural gas development: A public health demonstration of periodic high exposure to chemical mixtures in ambient air
March 2015
Our strongest recommendation to individuals living in shale gas areas is to monitor weather conditions to understand when the air is likely to be particularly polluted. Findings show that peak PM2.5 and VOC exposures occurred 83 times over 14 months.
David R. Browna, Celia Lewis & Beth I. Weinberger. - Long-term impacts of unconventional drilling operations on human and animal health
March 2015
Health impacts decreased for families and animals moving from intensively drilled areas or remaining in areas where drilling activity decreased.
Michelle Bamberger, Vet Behaviour Consults & Robert E. Oswald, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University. - Doctor Battles Gag Rule in Fracking Statute
February 2015
Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez is challenging Act 13, the state’s fracking law, which prohibits the disclosure of the chemicals and fluids used by natural gas-drilling companies in hydraulic fracking.
- Proximity to Natural Gas Wells and Reported Health Status: Results of a Household Survey in Washington County, Pennsylvania
January 2015
Researcher find frightening correlation between fracking and rates of illness: 39% of households located <1km from a frack site reported upper respiratory problems, 13% said they had rashes and other skin irritations.
Peter M. Rabinowitz, Ilya B. Slizovskiy, Vanessa Lamers, Sally J. Trufan, Theodore R. Holford, James D. Dziura, Peter N. Peduzzi, Michael J. Kane, John S. Reif, Theresa R. Weiss, and Meredith H. Stowe - Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Sciences, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA - A Public Health Review of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing For Shale Gas Development
December 2014
It is clear from the existing literature and experience that High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) activity has resulted in environmental impacts that are potentially adverse to public health. HVHF should not proceed in New York State.
New York State, Department of Health - MEDACT Letter to Lancashire County Council Councillors
December 2014
A review of the potential health impacts of exposures to chemical and radioactive pollutants from shale gas extraction produced by Public Health England is inadequate and incomplete; and arrived at an erroneous, unsubstantiated and misleading conclusion.
- Developmental and reproductive effects of chemicals associated with unconventional oil and natural gas operations
December 2014
Many of the air and water pollutants found near Fracking sites are recognized as being developmental and reproductive toxicants and have been associated with adverse human reproductive and developmental health outcomes in epidemiological studies.
Ellen Webb / Sheila Bushkin-Bedient / Amanda Cheng / Christopher D. Kassotis / Victoria Balise / Susan C. Nagel - Center for Environmental Health, New York, - Institute for Health and the Environment, New York - University of Missouri, Biological Sciences & Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health. - Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: A community-based exploratory study
October 2014
Five-state study - Levels of eight volatile chemicals exceeded federal guidelines under several operational circumstances. Benzene, formaldehyde, and hydrogen sulfide were the most common compounds to exceed acute and other health-based risk levels.
Gregg P Macey1, Ruth Breech2, Mark Chernaik3, Caroline Cox4, Denny Larson2, Deb Thomas5 and David O Carpenter6 - 1 Center for Health, Science, and Public Policy, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York, USA - 2 Global Community Monitor, Richmond, California, USA - 3 Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, Eugene, Oregon, USA - 4 Center for Environmental Health, Oakland, California, USA - 5 Powder River Basin Resource Council, Clark, Wyoming, USA - 6 Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, Rensselaer, New York, USA - Project Playground: Cleaner Air For Active Kids
September 2014
Air sampling found three known/suspected carcinogens and a number of other compounds with significant health effects. Benzene results from Denton, Dish, and Fort Worth exceeded the long-term ambient air limits and benzene is a known carcinogen.
Shaletest - Environmental Public Health Dimensions of Shale and Tight Gas Development
August 2014
A number of studies suggest that shale gas development contributes to levels of ambient air concentrations known to be associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality.
Seth B. Shonkoff, Jake Hays and Madelon L. Finkel - Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, Oakland, California - Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California - Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, New York - Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York - New Evidence Links Air Pollution to Autism, Schizophrenia
June 2014
“Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that air pollution may play a role in autism and schitzophrenia,”
Deborah Cory-Slechta - Professor of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester - British Medical Journal – Mistaking best practices for actual practices
April 2014
A focus on mostly hypothetical regulatory and engineering solutions may mistake best practices for actual practices, and supplants the empirical with the theoretical.
Adam Law, clinical assistant professor of medicine, Jake Hays, program director, Seth B Shonkoff, executive director, Madelon L Finkel, professor of clinical public health. - Glenwood Springs Prenatal Report
April 2014
This study identifies a powerful correlation between stillbirth, miscarriage, low sperm count, and exposure to fracking chemicals.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - Symptomatology of a gas field
April 2014
This report documents an investigation during February and March 2013 by a concerned General Practitioner, in relation to health complaints by people living in close proximity to coal seam gas develo pment in SW Queensland.
Geralyn McCarron MB BCh BAO FRACGP - Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development
February 2014
Community impacts near fracking sites: air pollutants, ground and surface water contamination, truck traffic and noise pollution, accidents and malfunctions . For workers: mortality, exposure to hazardous materials & increased risk of accident.
John L. Adgate, Bernard D. Goldstein, Lisa M. McKenzie - Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. - Birth Outcomes and Maternal Residential Proximity to Natural Gas Development in Rural Colorado
January 2014
Babies still in their mothers’ wombs living within a 10-mile range of fracking wells are in much greater danger of congenital heart defects (CHD) and neural tube defects (NTD).
Lisa M. McKenzie, Ruixin Guo, Roxana Z. Witter, David A. Savitz, Lee S. Newman, and John L. Adgate - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado - Breast Cancer UK Fact Sheet: Fracking
January 2014
Breast Cancer UK has strong concerns about the potentially adverse health effects of increased exposure to harmful chemicals as a result of fracking.
Breast Cancer UK - Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Activities of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Surface and Ground Water in a Drilling-Dense Region
December 2013
The rapid rise in natural gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing increases the potential for contamination of surface and ground water from chemicals used throughout the process.
Christopher D. Kassotis, Donald E. Tillitt, J. Wade Davis, Annette M. Hormann, and Susan C. Nagel - Endocrine Society - Shale Gas Development and Infant Health : Evidence from Pennsylvania
December 2013
The introduction of drilling increased low birth weight and decreased term birth weight on average among mothers 2.5 km of a well com- pared to mothers 2.5 km of a future well.
Elaine L. Hill - The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management Cornell University, New York. - Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford
September 2013
New study documents hazardous chemicals in the air and serious ailments reported by families living in close proximity to drilling operations of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
Sharon Wilson, Earthworks; Wilma Subra, Subra Company; and Lisa Sumi, environmental research and science consultant. Edited by Alan Septoff, Earthworks. Air emissions monitoring by ShaleTest. - Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources.
May 2012
Residents living ≤½ mile from wells are at greater risk for health effects from NGD than are residents living >½ mile from wells. Subchronic exposures to air pollutants during well completion activities present the greatest potential for health effects
Lisa M. McKenzie, Roxana Z. Witter, Lee S. Newman, John L. Adgate - This study was supported by the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners and the Colorado School of Public Health. - Drilling Doublespeak – Gas drillers disclose risks to shareholders but not to landowners
December 2011
As natural gas development has pushed into populated areas, gas drillers have consistently disclosed to shareholders and potential investors daunting lists of possible mishaps, including leaks, spills, explosions, bodily injury, limited insurance coverage
Dusty Horwitt, Environmental Working Group - Breast cancer links to shale gas extraction
August 2011
Invasive breast cancer is on the rise in Denton County and five neighboring counties, even as the incidence rate for the disease is lower in the state and falling across the rest of the nation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - US House of Representatives Report: Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing
April 2011
14 leading US fracking companies used over 2,500 products. More than 650 contain chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act or listed as hazardous air pollutants.
- Shale Gas Development and Community Distress: Evidence from England
June 2020
We conclude that the experiences, of the three English communities, reported in the qualitative interviews and quantitative survey are consistent with the reports of stress in the United States for those residents who live in shale gas communities.
- Fracking Lancashire: The planning process, social harm and collective trauma
March 2017
“This situation will have significant and long-lasting impacts on the local community, contributing to the collective trauma already experienced by the residents living in the vicinity of potential fracking sites in Lancashire.”
Damien Short - School of Advanced Study, University of London, United Kingdom Anna Szolucha - Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway - Spatial distribution of unconventional gas wells and human populations in the Marcellus Shale in the United States: Vulnerability analysis
April 2015
Fracking wells in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region are disproportionately located in poor rural communities, which bear the brunt of associated pollution.
Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Liyao Huang - Department of International Development, Community and Environment, Clark University
UK Specific
- Shale Gas Development and Community Distress: Evidence from England
June 2020
We conclude that the experiences, of the three English communities, reported in the qualitative interviews and quantitative survey are consistent with the reports of stress in the United States for those residents who live in shale gas communities.
- Public cost of decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure
March 2019
The Department has a worrying lack of understanding of the potential for government liabilities to decommission assets used in fracking.
- The Trans-Atlantic Plastics Pipeline How Pennsylvania’s Fracking Boom Crosses the Atlantic
April 2017
fracking erodesthe quality of life for the rural communities where most new gas wells are drilled,114and the last thing that Pennsylvanians need is an export-driven justification for the oil and gas industry to capitalize on shale at the expense of their health and well-being.
- Fracking Lancashire: The planning process, social harm and collective trauma
March 2017
“This situation will have significant and long-lasting impacts on the local community, contributing to the collective trauma already experienced by the residents living in the vicinity of potential fracking sites in Lancashire.”
Damien Short - School of Advanced Study, University of London, United Kingdom Anna Szolucha - Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway - Investigating the traffic-related environmental impacts of Fracking operations
March 2016
Fracking will increase air pollution levels by 30%, cause permanent damage to rural roadways and cause nearby residents distress in the form of excessive noise pollution.
Paul S. Goodman, Fabio Galatioto, Neil Thorpe, Anil K. Namdeo, Richard J. Davies, Roger N. Bird - School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RU, UK - Keep Moving – Report on the policing of the Barton Moss community protection camp
February 2016
Policing of the protest had the effect of curtailing the right to protest. Policing was violent, disproportionate to the size and peaceful nature of the protest and was carried out with impunity. Only 29% of arrests resulted in a conviction.
Dr Joanna Gilmore (York Law School, University of York), Dr Will Jackson (School of Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University) and Dr Helen Monk (School of Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University) - Hydraulic fracturing in thick shale basins: problems in identifying faults in the Bowland and Weald Basins, UK
December 2015
European shale basins are smaller but thicker than those in U.S. and are cut or bounded by normal faults penetrating from the shale to the surface. There is an inherent risk of groundwater resource contamination via these faults.
David K. Smythe - College of Science and Engineering, University of Glasgow, Scotland - Selenium enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland
December 2015
The Carboniferous Bowland Shale in England and Ireland contain anomalously high concentrations of selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and arsenic (As), highly toxic elements that have been released into groundwater during shale gas extraction in the US.
a John Parnell, a Connor Brolly, ab Sam Spinks, a Stephen Bowden - a School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen - b CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship, Australian Resources Research Centre, Perth. - What went wrong? An Investigative Report into the Extended Well Test Undertaken by Rathlin Energy at West Newton A Wellsite
October 2015
Lies, atmospheric pollution, light pollution, noise pollution, traffic, accidents, breaches and failures in the bread basket of the UK.
Communities of Holderness Against On-Shore Drilling / No Drill No Spill - CHEM Trust – Fracking Pollution: How Toxic Chemicals From Fracking Could Affect Wildlife And People In The UK And EU
July 2015
Widespread fracking threatens many of our valuable wildlife sites, this technology has a high potential to pollute sensitive aquatic ecosystems and harm human health. We know from experience in the USA that fracking wells leak & accidents happen.
Dr Michael Warhurst, Gwen Buck, Philip Lightowlers - chemtrust.org.uk - CHEM Trust – Chemical Pollution From Fracking
July 2015
There is a clear potential for fracking to cause serious incidents in the UK and Europe especially as fracking is likely to be positioned closer to people as population densities are higher than in the US.
Philip J Lightowlers for CHEM Trust - The risk of hydraulic fracturing on public health in the UK and the UK’s fracking legislation
June 2015
Government reports suggest a reliance on engineering solutions and better practice to overcome problems found in the US when evidence suggests that there are inherent risks involved in hydraulic fracturing and impacts that cannot be eliminated.
Elisabeth Reap - Environment Department, University of York - Rebutting and Responding to Criticism of the Medact Report on Fracking and Health
April 2015
All substantive criticisms have been looked at in detail, but none give reason to change the conclusions and recommendations of the Medact report.
David McCoy and Patrick Saunders - Medact - MEDACT Full UK Report – Health & Fracking
March 2015
While the precise level of risk to human health is indeterminate, the health hazards involved are substantial. No assurance can be given that the (UK regulatory) system is adequately robust and protective of human and ecological health.
Dr David McCoy, Dr Patrick Saunders, Dr Frank Rugman, Mike Hill, Dr Ruth Wood, Dr Adam Law, Jake Hays, Professor George Morris, John Bisset, Dr Angela Raffle, Dr John Middleton, David Kidney - MEDACT, The Grayston Centre, 28 Charles Squre, London. - British Medical Journal – Open Letter
March 2015
The arguments against fracking on public health and ecological grounds are overwhelming. There are clear grounds for adopting the precautionary principle and prohibiting fracking.
Dr Robin Stott, Co-Chair, Climate and Health Council Professor Sue Atkinson CBE, Co-Chair, Climate and Health Counci Professor Hugh Montgomery, UCL Professor Maya Rao OBE Professor Martin McKee, LSHTM Dr Clare Gerada, GP and former Chair of RGCP Dr Christopher Birt, University of Liverpool and Christie Hospital, Manchester Professor John Yudkin, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, UCL Dr Sheila Adam, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Klim McPherson, Chair of the UK Health Forum Dr John Middleton, Vice President UKFPH Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, KCL Helen Gordon, Board Member, Climate and Health Council Dr Frank Boulton, Medact and Southampton University Dr Sarah Walpole, Academic Clinical Fellow Professor Allyson Pollock, QMUL Dr Julie Hotchkiss, Acting Director of Public Health at City of a York Council Professor Jennie Popay, Lancaster University - MEDACT Letter to Lancashire County Council Councillors
December 2014
A review of the potential health impacts of exposures to chemical and radioactive pollutants from shale gas extraction produced by Public Health England is inadequate and incomplete; and arrived at an erroneous, unsubstantiated and misleading conclusion.
- A Human Rights Assesment of Fracking and Other Unconventional Gas Development in the UK
October 2014
This Report argues that the UK Government has a clear and urgent duty to fully investigate the human rights implications of fracking before authorising any exploratory or extractive fracking opertions.
Anna Grear, Director of the GNHRE, Reader in Law, Cardiff Law School, UK and Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, University of Waikato, New Zealand Evadne Grant, Associate Head, Department of Law, University of the West of England, Editor, Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, GNHRE Coordinator Dr Tom Kerns, Director of Environment and Human Rights Advisory, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Seattle Community College Professor Karen Morrow, Professor of Environmental Law, Swansea University, core team member GNHRE. Dr Damien Short, Reader in Human Rights and Director of the Human Rights Consortium and Extreme Energy Initiative at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Academic and Legal Research Assistance Benjamin Pontin, Senior Lecturer in Law, Bristol Law School, Bristol UWE, UK - British Medical Journal – Mistaking best practices for actual practices
April 2014
A focus on mostly hypothetical regulatory and engineering solutions may mistake best practices for actual practices, and supplants the empirical with the theoretical.
Adam Law, clinical assistant professor of medicine, Jake Hays, program director, Seth B Shonkoff, executive director, Madelon L Finkel, professor of clinical public health. - Breast Cancer UK Fact Sheet: Fracking
January 2014
Breast Cancer UK has strong concerns about the potentially adverse health effects of increased exposure to harmful chemicals as a result of fracking.
Breast Cancer UK - Shale gas: an updated assessment of environmental and climate change impacts
November 2011
This report explores the environmental risks and climate change implications arising from shale gas extraction. It also outlines potential UK and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the exploitation of shale reserves.
A report by researchers at the Tyndall Centre University of Manchester
Fracking Waste
- Wastewater Disposal from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Degrades Stream Quality at a West Virginia Injection Facility
May 2016
“We found endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at levels that previous studies have shown are high enough to block some hormone receptors and potentially lead to adverse health effects in aquatic organisms,” Susan C. Nagel
Denise M. Akob*†, Adam C. Mumford†, William Orem‡, Mark A. Engle‡ J. Grace Klinges, †∥, Douglas B. Kent§ and Isabelle M. Cozzarelli † † U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program ‡ U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center § U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program - Fracking By The Numbers – The Damage to Our Water, Land and Climate from a Decade of Dirty Drilling
April 2016
details the sheer amount of water contamination, air pollution, climate impacts, and chemical use in fracking in the United States.
Elizabeth Ridlington and Kim Norman Frontier Group Rachel Richardson Environment America Research & Policy Center - A systematic evaluation of chemicals in hydraulic-fracturing fluids and wastewater for reproductive and developmental toxicity
January 2016
Analysis of more than 1,000 chemicals in fluids used in and created by fracking ,157 substances have been linked to reproductive and developmental health problems and the majority had undetermined toxicity due to insufficient information.
Elise G Elliott, Adrienne S Ettinger, Brian P Leaderer, Michael B Bracken and Nicole C Deziel - Yale School of Public Health - Selenium enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland
December 2015
The Carboniferous Bowland Shale in England and Ireland contain anomalously high concentrations of selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and arsenic (As), highly toxic elements that have been released into groundwater during shale gas extraction in the US.
a John Parnell, a Connor Brolly, ab Sam Spinks, a Stephen Bowden - a School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen - b CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship, Australian Resources Research Centre, Perth. - Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water
October 2015
This study showed that fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals.
Yixin Yao a, b Tingting Chen c, Steven S. Shen d, Yingmei Niu b, Thomas L. DesMarais b, Reka Linn b, Eric Saunders b, Zhihua Fan b, Paul Lioy e, Thomas Kluz b, Lung-Chi Chen b, Zhuangchun Wu f, Max Costa b, - a Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health, b Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, d Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine, e Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, f College of Science, Donghua University. - Reductive weathering of black shale and release of barium during hydraulic fracturing
May 2015
Chemical reactions between injected freshwater and hydraulically fractured shale could play a major role in generating toxic metal barium in fracking wastewater.
Devon Renock, , Joshua D. Landis, Mukul Sharma - Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA - Wasting Away: Four States’ Failure To Manage Gas And Oil Field Waste From The Marcellus And Utica Shale
April 2015
This report shows what citizens have known for a long time, that is that no one is watching the waste. States facing fracking face a huge problem of what to do with the waste. Citizens in Ohio say we have had enough; stop the waste, stop fracking!”
Nadia Steinzor and Bruce Baizel, Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project - Fracking Failures – Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S.
February 2015
Fracking operators in Pennsylvania have committed thousands of violations of oil and gas regulations since 2011. These violations are not “paperwork” vio- lations, but lapses that pose serious risks to workers, the environment and public health.
- Iodide, Bromide, and Ammonium in Hydraulic Fracturing and Oil and Gas Wastewaters: Environmental Implications
January 2015
The expansion of unconventional shale gas and hydraulic fracturing has increased the volume of Oil & Gas Wastewater (OGW) generated in the U.S. Discharge and accidental spills of OGW to waterways pose risks to both human health and the environment.
Jennifer S. Harkness †, Gary S. Dwyer †, Nathaniel R. Warner †‡, Kimberly M. Parker §, William A. Mitch §, and Avner Vengosh *† † Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States ‡ Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States § Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4020, United States - Licence To Dump – New York Permits Pennsylvania to Dump Radioative Fracking Waste Inside It's Borders
January 2015
New York has inadequate regulations in place to protect New Yorkers from the harmful effects of hazardous fracking waste coming from other states.
Environmental Advocates Of New York - Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells
August 2014
Researchers identified 25 inorganic chemicals in frack waste water, at least six were found at levels that would make the water unsafe to drink: barium, chromium, copper, mercury, arsenic and antimony.
Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron - Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, USA - Sharp increase in central Oklahoma seismicity since 2008 induced by massive wastewater injection
July 2014
Four of the highest-rate disposal wells in Oklahoma are capable of inducing 20% of 2008 to 2013 central U.S. seismicity.
K. M. Keranen 1, M. Weingarten 2, G. A. Abers 3, B. A. Bekins 4, S. Ge 2 - Author Affiliations - 1 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. 2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. 3 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA. 4 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA. - Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence
March 2014
The M5.0 foreshock, induced by fluid injection, potentially triggered a cascading failure of earthquakes along the complex Wilzetta fault system.
Danielle F. Sumy, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Katie M. Keranen, Maya Wei, Geoffrey A. Abers - Maximum magnitude earthquakes induced by fluid injection
February 2014
Wastewater disposal is observed to be associated with the largest earthquakes, with maximum magnitudes sometimes exceeding 5.
A. McGarr - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth - Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of compounds used in hydraulic fracturing
January 2014
There remains a significant gap in toxicity information, as no mammillian toxicity data was found for approximately one-third of the 81 fracking chemicals examined.
William T. Stringfellow, Jeremy K. Domen, Mary Kay Camarillo, Whitney L. Sandelin, Sharon Borglin - Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Organic substances in produced and formation water from unconventional natural gas extraction in coal and shale
January 2014
Results from five CBM plays and two gas shale plays (including the Marcellus Shale) show a myriad of potentialy toxic organic chemicals present in the produced and formation water.
William Orema, Calin Tatub, Matthew Varonkaa, Harry Lercha, Anne Batesa, Mark Englec, Lynn Crosbya, Jennifer McIntoshd - U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, United State - University of Pharmacy and Medicine Victor Babes, Timisoara, Romania - U.S. Geological Survey, El Paso, TX, United States - Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States - Watered Down – Oil & Gas Waste Production & Oversight in the West
August 2013
Identifies & examines the dangers to water quality posed by oil and gas production in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Where water actually goes once it has been used & what happens to it in the fracing process?
Mark Trechock, Western Organization of Resource Councils (Canada) - Out of Sight, Out of Mind – New York’s Failure to Track or Treat Fracking Waste Endangers Public Health & the Environment
May 2012
Based on information from Pennsylvania, high-volume fracked gas wells produce between 216,000 gallons and 2.7 million gallons per well as flowback, and roughly 100 gallons of produced water per day for a well’s producing life.
Katherine Nadeau, Environmental Advocates of New York - Fracking Flowback
September 2011
Injection wells leak and precipitate earthquakes. Recycling is not final disposition, it simple increases toxicity and radioactivity. Processing is not final disposition, it simply reduces the flowback to sludge.
James Northrup - US House of Representatives Report: Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing
April 2011
14 leading US fracking companies used over 2,500 products. More than 650 contain chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act or listed as hazardous air pollutants.
- Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY
Wildlife & Biodiversity
- Fracked Ecology: Response Of Aquatic Trophic Structure And Mercury Biomagnification Dynamics In The Marcellus Shale Formation
October 2016
Twenty-seven remotely-located streams in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale basin were sampled during June and July of 2012, results suggest fracking has the potential to alter aquatic biodiversity and methyl mercury concentrations at the base of food webs
Christopher James Grant 1 Allison K. Lutz 2 Aaron D. Kulig 1 Mitchell R. Stanton 3 - 1 Juniata Collegevon Liebig Center for Science 2.Biology Department Georgia Southern University 3.Utah Division of Wildlife Resources - Wastewater Disposal from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Degrades Stream Quality at a West Virginia Injection Facility
May 2016
“We found endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at levels that previous studies have shown are high enough to block some hormone receptors and potentially lead to adverse health effects in aquatic organisms,” Susan C. Nagel
Denise M. Akob*†, Adam C. Mumford†, William Orem‡, Mark A. Engle‡ J. Grace Klinges, †∥, Douglas B. Kent§ and Isabelle M. Cozzarelli † † U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program ‡ U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center § U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program - Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water
October 2015
This study showed that fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals.
Yixin Yao a, b Tingting Chen c, Steven S. Shen d, Yingmei Niu b, Thomas L. DesMarais b, Reka Linn b, Eric Saunders b, Zhihua Fan b, Paul Lioy e, Thomas Kluz b, Lung-Chi Chen b, Zhuangchun Wu f, Max Costa b, - a Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health, b Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, d Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine, e Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, f College of Science, Donghua University. - Ecosystem services lost to oil and gas in North America
April 2015
Drilling for oil & gas has caused long-lasting damage to ecosystems across Canada and the US. Between 2000 and 2012, well pads, roads and storage facilities built for oil and gas development occupied about 3 million hectares of land.
Brady W. Allred 1, W. Kolby Smith 1,2, Dirac Twidwell 3, Julia H. Haggerty 4, Steven W. Running 1, David E. Naugle 1, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf 5 - Author Affiliations - 1 College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana. 2 Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota. 3 Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, 4 Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University. 5 Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University. - Marcellus and mercury: Assessing potential impacts of unconventional natural gas extraction on aquatic ecosystems in northwestern Pennsylvania
March 2015
Results showed significantly higher dissolved mercury in stream water, lower pH and higher dissolved organic matter at fracked sites. Mercury concentrations in crayfish, macroinverte and predatory macroinvertebrates were also higher.
Christopher J. Granta, Alexander B. Weimer, Nicole K. Marks, Elliott S. Perow, Jacob M. Oster, Kristen M. Brubaker, Ryan V. Trexler, Caroline M. Solomon & Regina Lamendella. - Landscape Consequences of Natural Gas Extraction in Bradford and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania
January 2012
Gas extraction creates "potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape." Wellpads, roads, pipelines and waste pits are clearcuts in forests. Cumulatively they are very destructive to the natural ecosystem.
E.T. Slonecker, L.E. Milheim, C.M.Roig-Silva, A.R. Malizia, D.A.Marr, G.B.Fisher - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Radioactive Contamination
- No Time to Waste – Western Organization Of Resource Councils Effective Management Of Oil And Gas Field Radioactive Waste
October 2015
Current efforts to regulate and manage TENORM wastes, as described throughout this report are failing due to regulatory gaps/exemptions, mismanagement, illegal disposal and a lack of consistent public information.
Caitlin Cromwell - Western Organization of Resource Councils - Predictors of Indoor Radon Concentrations in Pennsylvania, 1989–2013
April 2015
Radon continues to be a concern in Pennsylvania and geology is an important contributor. Buildings using well water had 21% higher indoor radon concentrations than those using municipal supplies. There has been a general rise in concentrations since 2006.
Joan A. Casey, Elizabeth L. Ogburn, Sara G. Rasmussen, Jennifer K. Irving, Jonathan Pollak, Paul A. Locke and Brian S. Schwartz - Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistics, Department of Health Policy and Management, Department of Medicine - Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore - Center for Health Research, Geisinger Health System, Pennsylvania. - Wasting Away: Four States’ Failure To Manage Gas And Oil Field Waste From The Marcellus And Utica Shale
April 2015
This report shows what citizens have known for a long time, that is that no one is watching the waste. States facing fracking face a huge problem of what to do with the waste. Citizens in Ohio say we have had enough; stop the waste, stop fracking!”
Nadia Steinzor and Bruce Baizel, Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project
Industrialisation
- Ecosystem services lost to oil and gas in North America
April 2015
Drilling for oil & gas has caused long-lasting damage to ecosystems across Canada and the US. Between 2000 and 2012, well pads, roads and storage facilities built for oil and gas development occupied about 3 million hectares of land.
Brady W. Allred 1, W. Kolby Smith 1,2, Dirac Twidwell 3, Julia H. Haggerty 4, Steven W. Running 1, David E. Naugle 1, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf 5 - Author Affiliations - 1 College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana. 2 Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota. 3 Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, 4 Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University. 5 Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University. - Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford
September 2013
New study documents hazardous chemicals in the air and serious ailments reported by families living in close proximity to drilling operations of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
Sharon Wilson, Earthworks; Wilma Subra, Subra Company; and Lisa Sumi, environmental research and science consultant. Edited by Alan Septoff, Earthworks. Air emissions monitoring by ShaleTest. - Landscape Consequences of Natural Gas Extraction in Bradford and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania
January 2012
Gas extraction creates "potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape." Wellpads, roads, pipelines and waste pits are clearcuts in forests. Cumulatively they are very destructive to the natural ecosystem.
E.T. Slonecker, L.E. Milheim, C.M.Roig-Silva, A.R. Malizia, D.A.Marr, G.B.Fisher - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY - Impact Assessment of Natural Gas Production in the New York City Water Supply Watershed
December 2009
After an 11-month study, the report concludes fracking poses “catastrophic consequences” to the city’s drinking water and should not take place within 7 miles of New York City’s watershed.
Hazen and Sawyer (Environmental Engineers & Scientists) for the New York City DEP.
Bubble & Bust
- Leaked E-Mails and Reports Reveal Industry Privately Skeptical of Shale Gas
February 2014
A selection of industry e-mails, internal agency documents and reports by analysts, many of whom were not authorized by their employers to communicate with The New York Times.
New York Times, Drilling Down. - Economic Realities of Shale Gas Development in New York – Submitted in support of testimony presented at February 4th Public Forum, Albany, New York 2014.
February 2014
Costs ignored by the industry are air pollution & health costs, road damage, decline in property value & the deterioration of industries crowded out or otherwise incompatible with an industrial landscape and/or risk of water, air and land contamin
- Exaggerating the Employment Impacts of Shale Drilling: How and Why
November 2013
The jobs bounty of shale drilling is not so enormous that public officials should be intimidated from honest scrutiny of its impacts. Shale development brings with it costs and impacts on health, the environment and local services.
Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative By Frank Mauro, Michael Wood, Michele Mattingly, Mark Price, Stephen Herzenberg, Sharon Ward - The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Development On State And Local Economies – Benefits, Costs and Uncertainties
January 2013
There are sufficient independent research findings on extractive industry impacts to question the claims commonly propounded by the industry, and repeated by the press, that shale gas extraction will bring prosperity to local communities.
Jannette M. Barth, Pepacton Institute - A Balance Sheet for New York State – What is New York State’s Net Equity from Shale Gas Development?
January 2012
A listing of potential assets and liabilities on a single side of A4.
Jannette M. Barth, Pepacton Institute - European Gas: A first look at EU shale gas prospects
October 2011
Identifies four factors which differentiate the US operating environment from other countries and lead us to believe that those waiting for a shale- gas “revolution” outside the US will be disappointed, in terms of both price and speed of production.
Michael Hsueh, Mark C. Lewis, Deutsche Bank
Water Use
- Water Stress from High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Potentially Threatens Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Arkansas, United States
January 2018
We estimated potential water stress using permitted water withdrawal volumes and actual water withdrawals compared to monthly median, low, and high streamflows.
- Indication of Unconventional Oil and Gas Wastewaters Found in Local Surface Waters
December 2016
Scientists found evidence of fracking wastewaters in surface waters and sediments collected downstream from the disposal facility; specifically elevated concentrations of barium, bromide, calcium, chloride, sodium, lithium & strontium.
- Fracking By The Numbers – The Damage to Our Water, Land and Climate from a Decade of Dirty Drilling
April 2016
details the sheer amount of water contamination, air pollution, climate impacts, and chemical use in fracking in the United States.
Elizabeth Ridlington and Kim Norman Frontier Group Rachel Richardson Environment America Research & Policy Center - Draft Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources
February 2011
70 to 140 billion gallons of water are used to fracture 35,000 wells in the United States each year. Fracture treatments in coalbed methane wells use from 50,000 to 350,000 gallons of water per well, deeper horizontal shale wells can use 2 to 4 million.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Earthquakes
- Earthquake Hazard Associated With Deep Well Injection – A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
January 1990
A study from 1990 by the US Geological Survey that determines a causal link between 'deep well injection' and earthquakes.
By CRAIG NICHOLSON and ROBERT L. WESSON, US Geological Survey, Prepared in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency. - Hydraulic Fracturing and Seismicity in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
April 2016
Results indicate that the maximum magnitude of induced events for hydraulic fracturing may not be well correlated with net injected fluid volume and the potential for earthquakes weeks to months after fracking, making mitigation fixes futile.
Gail M. Atkinson, David W. Eaton, Hadi Ghofrani, Dan Walker, Burns Cheadle, Ryan Schultz, Robert Shcherbakov, Kristy Tiampo, Jeff Gu, Rebecca M. Harrington, Yajing Liu, Mirko van der Baan, and Honn Kao. - A Century of Induced Earthquakes in Oklahoma?
October 2015
Seismicity rates have increased sharply since 2009 in the central and eastern United States. Growing evidence indicates that many of these events are induced, primarily by injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells.
Susan E. Hough and Morgan Page - U.S. Geological Survey - Hydraulic fracturing and the Crooked Lake Sequences: Insights gleaned from regional seismic networks
May 2015
Overall, we find that seismicity in the Crooked Lake Sequences is consistent with first-order observations of hydraulic fracturing induced seismicity.
Schultz Ryan, Stern Virginia, Novakovic Mark, Atkinson Gail, Gu Yu Jeffrey - Geophysical Research Letters - Causal factors for seismicity near Azle, Texas
April 2015
A combination of brine production and wastewater injection near the fault generated subsurface pressures sufficient to induce earthquakes on near-critically stressed faults.
Matthew J. Hornbach, Heather R. DeShon, William L. Ellsworth, Brian W. Stump, Chris Hayward, Cliff Frohlich, Harrison R. Oldham, Jon E. Olson, M. Beatrice Magnani, Casey Brokaw & James H. Luetgert. - Earthquakes Induced by Hydraulic Fracturing in Poland Township, Ohio
January 2015
We identified earthquakes as small as local magnitudes (ML) ∼1 up to 3, potentially one of the largest earthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing in the United States.
Robert J. Skoumal, Michael R. Brudzinski, and Brian S. Currie - Miami University, Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science - Characterization of an Earthquake Sequence Triggered by Hydraulic Fracturing in Harrison County, Ohio
October 2014
In this paper, we show the first evidence of positive magnitude earthquakes on a previously unmapped fault in Harrison County, Ohio, that can be related to a hydraulic fracture operation.
Paul A. Friberg (a), Glenda M. Besana‐Ostman (b) and Ilya Dricker (a) - (a) Instrumental Software Technologies, Inc. (ISTI), New York (b) Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (DOGRM), Columbus, Ohio. - Sharp increase in central Oklahoma seismicity since 2008 induced by massive wastewater injection
July 2014
Four of the highest-rate disposal wells in Oklahoma are capable of inducing 20% of 2008 to 2013 central U.S. seismicity.
K. M. Keranen 1, M. Weingarten 2, G. A. Abers 3, B. A. Bekins 4, S. Ge 2 - Author Affiliations - 1 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. 2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. 3 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA. 4 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA. - Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence
March 2014
The M5.0 foreshock, induced by fluid injection, potentially triggered a cascading failure of earthquakes along the complex Wilzetta fault system.
Danielle F. Sumy, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Katie M. Keranen, Maya Wei, Geoffrey A. Abers - Maximum magnitude earthquakes induced by fluid injection
February 2014
Wastewater disposal is observed to be associated with the largest earthquakes, with maximum magnitudes sometimes exceeding 5.
A. McGarr - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth - Fracking Injection Wells Linked to Earthquakes
January 2014
VIDEO Seismologist Dr. Elizabeth Cochran discusses research showing that injection wells from fracking and gas and oil production likely causing an uptick in U.S. earthquakes.
Dr. Elizabeth Cochran - Fracking Flowback
September 2011
Injection wells leak and precipitate earthquakes. Recycling is not final disposition, it simple increases toxicity and radioactivity. Processing is not final disposition, it simply reduces the flowback to sludge.
James Northrup - Fractured Communities – Case studies of environmental impacts
September 2010
A detailed look at some of the effects of gas drilling on environment, communities and health. Based on investigations, findings, and statements of state and federal regulators.
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director, James L. Simpson, Senior Attorney, William Wegner, Staff Scientist, Riverkeeper NY
Agriculture & Animal Health
- Salting the earth: North Dakota farmers struggle with a toxic byproduct of the oil boom
August 2018
The state of North Dakota doesn't even know how many acres of cropland have been damaged by saltwater spills, a byproduct of the local oil bubble.
- Endocrine-Disrupting Activity of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Adverse Health Outcomes
October 2015
Our results suggest possible adverse developmental and reproductive health outcomes in humans and animals exposed to potential environmentally relevant levels of oil and gas operation chemicals.
Christopher D. Kassotis, Kara C. Klemp, Danh C. Vu, Chung-Ho Lin, Chun-Xia Meng, Cynthia L. Besch-Williford, Lisa Pinatti, R. Thomas Zoeller, Erma Z. Drobnis, Victoria D. Balise, Chiamaka J. Isiguzo, Michelle A. Williams, Donald E. Tillitt, and Susan C. Nagel - Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water
October 2015
This study showed that fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals.
Yixin Yao a, b Tingting Chen c, Steven S. Shen d, Yingmei Niu b, Thomas L. DesMarais b, Reka Linn b, Eric Saunders b, Zhihua Fan b, Paul Lioy e, Thomas Kluz b, Lung-Chi Chen b, Zhuangchun Wu f, Max Costa b, - a Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health, b Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, d Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine, e Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, f College of Science, Donghua University. - Evidence from two shale regions that a riparian songbird accumulates metals associated with hydraulic fracturing
September 2015
In both the Marcellus and Fayetteville shale regions, barium and strontium were found at significantly higher levels in feathers of birds in sites with fracking activity than at sites without fracking.
- Long-term impacts of unconventional drilling operations on human and animal health
March 2015
Health impacts decreased for families and animals moving from intensively drilled areas or remaining in areas where drilling activity decreased.
Michelle Bamberger, Vet Behaviour Consults & Robert E. Oswald, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University. - Coal Gasification & Cancer
January 2015
There is strong evidence from experimental studies for a genotoxic mode of action for coal-gasification samples. It is highly likely that geno-toxicity is the mechanism relevant to the carcinogenic hazards from exposures to emissions of coal gasification.
International Agency for Research on Cancer - Working Group
Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)
- Coal Gasification & Cancer
January 2015
There is strong evidence from experimental studies for a genotoxic mode of action for coal-gasification samples. It is highly likely that geno-toxicity is the mechanism relevant to the carcinogenic hazards from exposures to emissions of coal gasification.
International Agency for Research on Cancer - Working Group
Social Issues